2007 Distinguished Alumni Award Honoree
As if earning a bachelor of science degree in engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a master’s of regional planning from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst weren’t enough, Susan Chapman added a University of Wisconsin-Madison master’s degree in real estate and urban land economics to her educational credits. Says Susan, “I chose Wisconsin because it has one of the country’s best real estate MBA programs and one of the best alumni networks I’ve ever seen.”
Shortly after graduating from the UW, Susan joined an international communications and information services company headquartered in Colorado. There, she grew the firm’s real estate acquisitions to more than 13 million square feet. Now at Citigroup Realty Services in New York, she manages the day-to-day operations for 85 million square feet of space in 96 countries.
In 2003, Black Enterprise magazine named Susan one of the “fifty best and brightest” on its list of America’s Most Powerful Players Under 40. As recently as February 2006, the magazine listed her as one of the “50 Most Powerful Black Women in Business.” She has been featured in several other publications, ranging from Fortune to Working Mother.
In addition to her professional work, Susan is currently composing music for a children’s CD, writing two nonfiction books and working on a family cookbook with one of her brothers. She volunteers with nonprofit organizations across the United States and is an active mentor to young people. She keeps in touch with several UW School of Business professors and former classmates, noting that the university “breeds a culture that continues.”
